Just as winning has long been the Leicester way, so losing has again become an Irish habit. The wayward exiles plunged to their fourth successive defeat since winning the Powergen Cup last month but they can nevertheless take consolation from having secured a home-draw against Northampton in next Sunday's Zurich Championship quarter-final play-offs.
While the imperious Tigers marched on to their 18th Premiership win, completing their programme with an exhilarating five try blitz, the inconsistent Irish stayed put in fourth place thanks to the Saints victory over Newcastle. Fourth though will be sufficient to guarantee the Exiles a potentially lucrative place in next season's Heineken Cup.
Precisely why the Irish have reverted to their old losing ways since their glorious day out at Twickenham is a mystery that can only be solved by Brendan Venter, whose injury enforced absence left the Irish midfield looking punchless and bereft of creative ideas, especially in the second half when the Leicester scoring machine moved up two gears.
The game came alive when Leicester, struggling to find a rhythm early on, were leading 10-9 before referee Roy Maybank punished their forwards for pulling down a maul close to the line, signalling a try without prior warning.
Midway through the first half Leon Lloyd, the Leicester wing, finished off a slick move begun by Tim Stimpson close to the right touchline, taking the full-back's short pass and running round the Irish defence to score between the posts. That try which followed a flurry of penalties, was a welcome piece of enterprise from the Champions in a half dominated by Irish errors.
Predictably the Tigers showed their true mettle once they found themselves on the wrong end of a 16-10 interval scoreline. Neil Back squeezed over the line after Leicester won a line-out in the right corner, before Martin Corry picked up at the base of a ruck and sprinted 15 metres to score at the posts.
Next came a second penalty try, this time against the Irish for persistent offside - wing Paul Sackey was sin-binned for the same offence - before Lloyd broke from half-way, cleverly kicked ahead, and won the race to the touchdown. It was a fitting conclusion to a campaign that saw Leicester win their 10th bonus point for tryscoring in 18 wins.
LEICESTER TIGERS: Stimpson (Murphy, h-t); Lloyd, Smith, Gelderbloom, Tuilagi; Goode, Healey (Hamilton, 62); Freshwater (Jelley, 65), West (Cockerill, 61), Nebbett, Johnson (capt), Kay, Moody, Back (Kronfeld, 53), Corry. SCORERS: Tries: Lloyd 2, Back, Corry, penalty try. Cons: Stimpson, Goode 2. Pen: Stimpson.
LONDON IRISH: Horak; Sackey, Appleford, Hoadley, Bishop; Everitt, Edwards; Hatley (Wheatley, 70), Drotske (Kirke, 48), Hardwick (Halford, 48), Delaney, Fahrensohn, Halvey, Phister, Strudwick (capt). SCORERS: Try: Penalty try: Con: Everitt. Pens: Everitt 3.
Sin-bin: Sackey, 62.
Referee: R Maybank (London).
